A variety of techniques have been used to bond or seal living tissue. For example, different types of tissues have been mechanically bound or sealed with a number of procedures, materials and methods including sutures, staples, tapes and bandages. In some applications, these materials are made of absorbable materials that are intended to bond and/or seal tissue as it heals and then to be absorbed over a period of time.
A recent addition to the techniques that can be used is application of an absorbable adhesive sealant composition to bond and/or seal tissue. The adhesive composition is readily formed from a two component mixture that includes a first part of a cross-linking agent and a second part of a protein, preferably a serum protein such as albumin. When the two parts of the mixture are combined, the mixture is initially liquid. The combined mixture then cures in vivo on the surface of tissue to give a substantive composition that securely bonds to the tissue. Additional details can be found in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 5,583,114, “ADHESIVE SEALANT COMPOSITION,” to Barrows et al.
The tissue sealants often have low viscosity immediately after being constituted. Although the low viscosity may be advantageous when dispensing the tissue sealant, it may cause difficulties in maintaining the tissue sealant in place on the desired tissue or other surface while the tissue sealant cures or otherwise thickens. For example, the low viscosity of the tissue sealant may result in excessive runoff when the tissue sealant is applied to angled, rounded, or vertical surfaces. The tissue sealant that runs off may pool at the lowest point in adjacent surgical tissue. Additionally, applying tissue sealant to the underside of vessels or other tissue may be difficult using traditional techniques of spraying, dripping or streaming the tissue sealant.